


A winter to remember.

by MarvelBunny



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Celebrations, Don't Try This At Home, F/M, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I should have more tags, Implications, Legends, Not really though, One-Sided Attraction, Resorts, Sabine is depressed, Sheltay's canonical existence is complicated, The struggle of nobility, There's a lot of questionable ethics here, Unethical practices, Zeb likes funnel cakes, Zeb speculates, but I liked it, discussions of incest, lesser seen ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 17:29:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14675973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarvelBunny/pseuds/MarvelBunny
Summary: The celebration was supposed to go on for two weeks, Zeb isn't sure how they're going to make it through with two screaming lasats and a woman who came out of nowhere, but at least there's funnel cake.A lot of funnel cake.





	A winter to remember.

**Author's Note:**

> For those who don’t know, Sheltay is the mother of Leia’s “adopted” sister in legends, she dies early on and her background longer canon but hey, she deserves a little story too even if she's a little different here.  
> 　　

　　  
　　  
　　Every morning in the days since their arrival the lasats had screech sessions that echoed throughout the compound. Mostly it was just Chava and Gron yelling at each other from across the resort, but they were giving the rest of the species a bad name. Zeb pressed his face against the glass of their hotel room peering down at the pair below they were separated by a few yards and fussing about something in their native language.  
　　  
　　Behind him, Hera wrapped a shawl around Jacen’s narrow shoulders and picked him up.  
　　  
　　“Are you coming down Zeb?” Hera asked over the howling, she groaned. “How long are they going to be at that?”  
　　  
　　“Who knows,” Zeb said turning his gaze from the lasats to the tall figure with large montrals beside her was a shorter purple haired figure the two walked along the snowy path headed towards the resorts food stand. “I’ll join you guys later.”  
　　  
　　The annual liberation celebration was always fun, especially the veteran retreat being able to see old friends and comrades was a dream but this year the resort took place during the dead of winter on that year’s planet of choice, Zeb didn’t mind the cold but after a few hours of walking around he would start to regret not being able to wear shoes.  
　　  
　　“Alright,” Hera said.  
　　  
　　She bundled Jacen tightly and left the room leaving Zeb to stare out the window, he watched Ahsoka and Sabine disappear from view with a little frown. Chava and Gron’s yelling got louder, Zeb rolled his eyes and turned away from the window.  
　　  
　　He was beginning to regret inviting them.  
　　  
　　Rising to his feet Zeb left the room and made his way down the stairs, someone was going to have to shut them up before people started hating lasats more than they already did.  
　　On the way down he slammed into Kallus almost knocking him down the steps.  
　　  
　　“Sorry buddy,” Zeb said righting Kallus sheepishly.  
　　  
　　“Where’s the fire?”  
　　  
　　“Outside,” Zeb said dryly. “Courtesy of two screaming lasats.”  
　　  
　　“Oh that,” Kallus said with a nod. “What’s gotten into them?”  
　　  
　　Zeb shrugged.  
　　  
　　“I can never tell,”  
　　  
　　“Sounds like someone I know,” Kallus said darkly.  
　　  
　　“Really, who?” Zeb asked, not one of their mutual friends behaved like Chava or Gron.  
　　  
　　“No one important,” Kallus said.  
　　  
　　The yelling became louder until it echoed in the stairwell, they exchanged an exasperated glance and ran down the stairs. By the time they made it around the front of the building Chava and Gron were gone and the air was eerily still almost sinister, a few other lasats trailed by mumbling to each other quietly they sounded relieved.  
　　  
　　“They’re gone,” Kallus said sweeping the area he raised an eyebrow suspiciously.  
　　  
　　“At least it’s over,” Zeb sighed.  
　　  
　　“I suppose,” Kallus said tapping his foot he looked around the area for a while longer before asking. “Where are you headed now?”  
　　  
　　Zeb shrugged again.  
　　  
　　“What’s there to do here?”  
　　  
　　Kallus pulled a pamphlet from his pocket and gave it to Zeb.  
　　  
　　“A decent amount,” Kallus said. “I suggest avoiding the pool area for a while.”  
　　  
　　“Okay- Wait why?” Zeb asked.  
　　  
　　“It’s too cold to swim,” Kallus claimed indifferently.  
　　  
　　“Is that going to change in a while?” Zeb asked. “Have you ticked someone off again?”  
　　  
　　“When do I ever “tick” people off?”  
　　  
　　“Every other week,”  
　　  
　　“That is not true,”  
　　  
　　“If you say so,” Zeb said and smiled widely. “I think I want to go swimming.”  
　　  
　　Kallus glared at him.  
　　  
　　“It’s your funeral,”  
　　  
　　Zeb ignored him and opened the pamphlet.  
　　  
　　“But first, I want one of these funnel cakes,”  
　　  
　　“Why am I not surprised?”  
　　  
　　“Because everyone wants one,”  
　　  
　　The funnel cake booth was a few meters away, but Kallus took the long way detouring around the perimeter of the resort until they smacked into the food court, Zeb was too hungry to complain and happily accepted the cake Kallus brought him.  
　　  
　　“You’re going to get heartburn, eating like that,” Kallus scolded, watching Zeb wolf down the cake without stopping, Kallus had his own cake which he ate like it pained him to do so, slowly and with several regretful glances. At the table next to them Sabine and Ahsoka had set up their own assortment of lunch, ranging from cakes to hot chocolate.  
　　Ahsoka giggled at the display nudging Sabine to get her attention the girl barely glanced up from her meal, Zeb smiled at them, one and half of them returned the gesture.  
　　  
　　“Focus on your food,” Kallus said shaking his head.  
　　  
　　“Read your own press!” Zeb grumbled and swallowed another chunk of his funnel cake, the stillness had gone out from the air and in its place was a sense of warmth that wasn’t sparked by Kallus’ bossiness, it was something else far more pleasant.  
　　  
　　Zeb found himself grinning though he didn’t know why, Kallus rolled his eyes and huffed something about heading down a “dangerous road”, Zeb quickly finished his funnel cake and eyed Kallus’ partially eaten one.  
　　  
　　“Are you going to eat that?”  
　　  
　　“Yes!” Kallus said glaring he pulled his plate closer.  
　　  
　　Zeb pouted.  
　　  
　　“You can have mine,” Ahsoka said standing from her seat she placed another cake on their table. “I’ve already had two this morning!”  
　　  
　　“Thanks,” Zeb said with a smile.  
　　  
　　“Oh great,” Kallus muttered.  
　　  
　　“And how are you, Kallus?” Ahsoka asked pleasantly.  
　　  
　　“I’m doing great,” Kallus said dryly. “And yourself?”  
　　  
　　“Wonderful,” Ahsoka said. “We’re looking forward to getting back out there but I’m enjoying this time off.”  
　　  
　　“I’m glad to hear that,” Kallus said sitting back in his chair.  
　　  
　　“Your friend is looking for you,” Ahsoka said mildly.  
　　  
　　“What friend?” Zeb asked swallowing a mouthful of funnel cake.  
　　  
　　Kallus paled.  
　　  
　　“What friend?” Zeb asked again.  
　　  
　　Ahsoka smiled.  
　　  
　　“The lady he was speaking to earlier,” She said innocently.  
　　  
　　“Really,” Zeb asked fascinated. “Is that why you were avoiding the pool?”  
　　  
　　“No,” Kallus said. He turned his plate around and stabbed his cake with a fork.  
　　  
　　Ahsoka smiled again and looked up into the distance.  
　　  
　　“Sabine, didn’t you say you wanted to see Hera and Jacen before we left?”  
　　  
　　“Yeah,” Sabine said poking at her food sadly. Zeb felt horrible for her, after all this time she was still torn up over not being able to find Ezra. Everyone else had gotten a happy ending, Hera had Jacen, he and Kallus had resolved their differences and became the most kindred of buddies, but Sabine even though she had gained Ahsoka’s company had lost her best friend and other half.  
　　  
　　Zeb waved at them as they started towards the kiddie corner, then he looked at Kallus with a wide smile.  
　　  
　　“So who’s this friend of yours?”  
　　  
　　“Not a friend,” Kallus snapped.  
　　  
　　Zeb snickered and bit into Ahsoka’s funnel cake once more, there was a loud whoop and Kallus glanced up just in time to see a brown haired woman running towards them.  
　　  
　　“Alexsandr!”  
　　  
　　“Bloody-”  
　　  
　　Kallus jumped up from his seat and tripped over Zeb’s foot causing him to fall roughly back into his seat with a loud thud he grimaced and groaned in pain just as the woman slammed her fists on the table.  
　　  
　　“Are you trying to prove something?” She snarled.  
　　  
　　Kallus rubbed his spine.  
　　  
　　“I had something important to attend to,” He said evenly. “That didn’t include arguing with you.”  
　　  
　　“You want to see arguing?”  
　　  
　　“Uh, should I leave?” Zeb asked scooting back in his seat.  
　　  
　　“No it’s nothing,” Kallus said with a frown. “Zeb, this is Sheltay, we were colleagues a while back.”  
　　  
　　Zeb looked between them still confused.  
　　  
　　“Nice to met you Sheltay,” He said.  
　　  
　　“Likewise,” Sheltay said her face still creased with anger.  
　　  
　　“Want a funnel cake?” Zeb asked hoping to break the tension.  
　　  
　　“No thanks,” Sheltay said. “I’m off sugar at the moment.”  
　　  
　　Kallus continued frowning at his plate, seeming completely disinterested Sheltay’s presence.  
　　  
　　“Are you just going to stand there or take a seat?” He asked without looking up.  
　　  
　　“You didn’t offer me one,” Sheltay said sarcastically.  
　　  
　　“I just did,”  
　　  
　　Zeb squirmed as she sat down opposite of them, once again the air felt sinister maybe it was Sheltay all this time. Colleague meant imperial to Zeb, likely former but he was going to grill Kallus about it later.  
　　  
　　“Can we be civil for a moment?” Sheltay asked sitting down.  
　　  
　　Kallus glanced up at her incredulously.  
　　  
　　“What do you call this?”  
　　  
　　“Passive-aggressive behavior, on both sides,” Sheltay said. “So let’s try something new, how are you guys liking the festival?”  
　　  
　　“Eh, I think it’s pretty cool,” Zeb said glancing around. “The funnel cakes are nice.”  
　　  
　　“Same,” Kallus muttered.  
　　  
　　“Well that’s better than nothing I suppose,” Sheltay said grudgingly.  
　　  
　　Zeb looked at Kallus pointedly, it was obvious he wasn’t happy to see Sheltay whatever his reasons were it wasn’t an excuse to make things awkward.  
　　  
　　Kallus sighed.  
　　  
　　“Are you enjoying the republic’s celebration Sheltay? I didn’t expect you to come,”  
　　  
　　Was that it, a conflict in political views?  
　　  
　　Possibilities aside, that was one of the most passive aggressive comments Zeb had heard that day. He barely held back an inappropriate chuckle.  
　　  
　　Sheltay looked at her hands idly twisting one of the bands on her finger.  
　　  
　　“If I had known it would be a problem, I wouldn’t have,”  
　　  
　　“There’s no problem,” Kallus lied with a false smile. “I was simply curious, it is my job to be after all.”  
　　  
　　“Hm,” Sheltay said adopting a mournful expression. “I came to see you.”  
　　  
　　Kallus scowled at her.  
　　  
　　This was going to get awkward.  
　　  
　　Again Zeb tried to ease out of his chair, this wasn’t his idea of a great time.  
　　  
　　“Your father misses you,” Sheltay sighed.  
　　  
　　For a moment Kallus seemed stuck, then his face softened and he relaxed Zeb knew little about Kallus’ father except that he held a few titles and lived somewhere on Coruscant.  
　　  
　　“I see,” Kallus said lowly. “That’s not what he said the last time I spoke to him.”  
　　  
　　“Things change, so do people,” Sheltay said meaningfully. “Things have been difficult for him lately.”  
　　  
　　“Why didn’t he come himself then?” Kallus asked coldly. “Why send you?”  
　　  
　　“I came on my own volition Alexsandr,” Sheltay said. “I care about him. And you, even if you don’t believe it.”  
　　  
　　Zeb was watching the exchange with rapt interest, he slowly chewed on the remainder of the funnel cake when it was gone he snatched Kallus’ cake and sunk his teeth into the sugary pastry. He was struggling to assign relationship values to the pair, he scratched out girlfriend, colleague sounded like a poorly structured lie he was leaning towards younger stepmother but even that seemed off.  
　　  
　　“Lies aside, I fail to see what you planned to accomplish here,” Kallus said rubbing his chin thoughtfully.  
　　  
　　Sheltay huffed and grabbed his hand.  
　　  
　　“To ask you to contact your father before it’s too late,” She said desperately.  
　　  
　　“He’s sick?” Kallus asked his tone was even but Zeb could hear a trace of fear.  
　　  
　　Sheltay scrunched up her shoulders and let out a tired breath of air.  
　　  
　　“He’s had some close calls the past few weeks, the doctors said it was stroke I think,”  
　　  
　　“You stalked me halfway across the galaxy to tell me that?”  
　　  
　　“I told you I cared,”  
　　  
　　This was beginning to feel like a soap opera and the way Kallus was looking at the woman was making Zeb rethink his earlier assumptions about their relationship.  
　　  
　　Not stepmother.  
　　  
　　Hopefully not.  
　　  
　　“Oh,”  
　　  
　　Kallus had an excellent poker face but was horrible at keeping it up in the face of mushy sentiments. Zeb felt mildly repulsed and it was hard for him to swallow his mouthful of cake, it went down dry and he almost gagged.  
　　  
　　“You’re going to at least Holo with him right?” Sheltay asked.  
　　  
　　 Kallus nodded and removed his hand from hers  
　　  
　　“I forgot to ask you earlier,” Kallus began casually. “How are things for you these days?”  
　　  
　　“You didn’t forget,” Sheltay said coyly. “But I’m fine, not much changed in my division when things were reorganized and obviously you’re doing really well.”  
　　  
　　Kallus looked like he wanted to ask something else but glanced at Zeb and seemed to think better of it. Zeb rolled his eyes, he had no intentions of being a third wheel to a weird-fest, especially when he was the second wheel to start things off.  
　　  
　　“I’m gonna go check out the games,” Zeb announced, scooting away from the table.  
　　  
　　“They have games here?” Sheltay asked curiously.  
　　  
　　“Yes,” Kallus said. “Why don’t you come check them out with us?”  
　　  
　　Zeb stared at Kallus in disbelief, but the man wasn’t looking at him Zeb cursed inwardly and wondered what he had done to deserve such a fate.  
　　  
　　Tried to save the resort from Chava and Gron, that’s what.  
　　  
　　As they walked through the snowy fair grounds Zeb’s feet felt frozen, he looked down at them with annoyance which was a lot better than focusing on the conversation taking place beside him.  
　　  
　　“You know your uncle died recently,” Sheltay was saying.  
　　  
　　“Yes, I heard,” Kallus said. “Very unfortunate.”  
　　  
　　“I’m glad, I was afraid that after you left, you’d be in the dark about family affairs,”  
　　  
　　“You left Sheltay,” Kallus reminded her mildly. “After pulling that stunt.”  
　　  
　　“Oh right,” Sheltay said waving her hand dismissively. “You’ll be happy to know it failed.”  
　　  
　　“Very much so,”  
　　  
　　For the fifth time during their walk Zeb rolled his eyes, the two had been talking in code since they left the food court and it was getting on Zeb’s nerves to see his buddy acting like a love-struck teenage girl. Despite their interactions, something prevented Zeb from labeling them as former lovers, most of those barriers came out of Sheltay’s mouth.  
　　  
　　“Do you remember when your father tried to move our house to the monument plaza when we were kids?”  
　　  
　　“Not the wisest thing he’s ever tried to do,”  
　　  
　　They had known each other since they were younglings and apparently lived under the same roof, Sheltay didn’t give off the aura of a servant which left another possibility that disturbed Zeb to his core.  
　　  
　　Half-siblings?  
　　  
　　That was a practice still used among noble families in the core system, one of which Kallus was descended from it was quite possible. Zeb shook his head quickly to clear his mind, it wasn’t his business, however, he was sure Kallus would have mentioned it at some point if that were the case. To distract himself from the matter, Zeb trained his eyes on the large plushy hanging from a game booth’s station, perhaps Ahsoka would accept it as repayment for the funnel cake, eagerly he approached the booth to get a closer look.  
　　The plush was some type of brightly colored polka dotted dog, the man who was running the booth looked at Zeb tiredly his lips blue from the cold.  
　　  
　　“Interested in a game?” The attendant asked unenthusiastically.  
　　  
　　“Eh why not,” Zeb said with a shrug he could still hear the drone of Kallus’ conversation but it seemed fainter.  
　　  
　　“The goal of the game is to throw this ball at the target,” The attendant said flatly. “Hit all three win a prize, win three rounds, get the dog. Okay? Great...”  
　　  
　　The game was no doubt rigged, but being a lasat had its advantages an impeccable aim was one of them, combined with his natural strength he hit the targets with ease. At the end of the third round, the ball slammed into the target with enough force to dislodge it.  
　　  
　　The attendant shrugged.  
　　  
　　“That’s coming out of my check,” He said, reaching up pulled the dog from the gallows and handed it to Zeb.  
　　  
　　Zeb’s ears perked when he noticed the conversation had stopped, he turned around and spotted Kallus standing behind him looking around with disinterest, Sheltay was nowhere in sight.  
　　  
　　“Where’s your colleague?” Zeb asked dryly.  
　　  
　　“She went to pick something up from the corner shop,”  
　　  
　　Zeb didn’t want to know what, but this was his chance to clear up some confusion.  
　　  
　　“Not trying to step on any toes here but it doesn’t seem like she sees you as a colleague,”  
　　  
　　Kallus cleared his throat and smoothed out his shirt.  
　　  
　　“She works with my father,” Kallus admitted. “We’ve worked together in the past, the rest is...Complicated.”  
　　  
　　There was more to the story but Zeb wasn’t sure if he should ask.  
　　  
　　“She seems nice,”  
　　  
　　“Sheltay is a nightmare when she wants to be,” Kallus said moving to stand beside him. “I wasn’t joking when I said women can lead you down a dangerous road.”  
　　  
　　“That’s what you were saying?” Zeb asked feeling a little offended.  
　　  
　　“Yes,” Kallus said then looked wistfully in the sky. “But it is fun while it lasts.”  
　　  
　　“I don’t know how I should feel about this,”  
　　  
　　Kallus laughed, it was genuine and it gave Zeb the creeps.  
　　  
　　Two weeks later when the festival was packing up Zeb pulled the giant plush from it’s hiding place and carried it downstairs where his friends were sitting in the lobby, he spotted Ahsoka sitting next to Sabine on one of the plush velvet couches a ways from them Hera, Rex and Jacen were sitting on loveseats all of them were staring to the left with raised eyebrows. On the swinging couch situated in the left of the room closest to Sabine and Ahsoka, Kallus and Sheltay were leaning heavily on each other, for the most part everyone had accepted or tolerated Sheltay’s presence during the event she wasn’t a veteran but Kallus seemed to enjoy her- a little too much if you asked Zeb- but it was obvious everyone wanted to know what hole Sheltay crawled out of and why she was rubbing on their former imperial.  
　　  
　　Sabine was the only one who seemed disinterested in the display, she glanced at them and turned her eyes to the floor twiddling her thumbs together. Zeb looked at the plushy he was carrying and sighed, some things were more important in life than repaying a former Jedi for her kindness.  
　　  
　　“Hey, there ‘bine,” Zeb said nudging her gently. “I got you something.”  
　　  
　　Sabine looked up and jumped when she saw the dog a warm smile spread across her face.  
　　  
　　“Wow that’s a big one,” Sabine said, she grabbed the plush and turned it over. “Thanks, Zeb. I love it.”  
　　  
　　“Glad to hear it,”  
　　  
　　They looked at each other warmly, the sibling bond they shared making Zeb feel warm.  
　　Yep, there were definitively more important things in life than repaying a Jedi. From her spot beside Sabine Ahsoka regarded them both with a wide smile.  
　　  
　　Sheltay made a strange noise that was a mixture of a purr and a growl, Zeb glanced at the swing feeling amused and repulsed at the same time. She inched her fingers up his arm and rested her head on his shoulder.  
　　  
　　“I must tell you something Alexsandr,” She said in a catlike manner. “Your father is a very bad man.”  
　　  
　　“What’s new?”  
　　  
　　“Yes, yes,” Sheltay said nodding her head dismissively. “But he told me something before I left. Do you know what it was?”  
　　  
　　Kallus shook his head, he didn’t appear very interested in what she was saying instead he was fumbling around in his pocket. Hera, Rex, and Jacen were privileged enough to be out of earshot for what came next.  
　　  
　　“He told me to come back with a grandbaby,”  
　　  
　　“Excuse me?”  
　　  
　　“And now I will,”  
　　  
　　Zeb couldn’t stop the gasp that tore from his throat, Sabine fell over in her seat crushed by the giant plush even Ahsoka seemed surprised and coughed loudly. Rex and Jacen craned their necks to see what all the commotion was about but they were still too far away to hear.  
　　  
　　“What!” Kallus’ hand froze in his pocket, he looked like someone had just poured acid on down the back of his shirt.  
　　  
　　“At least I told you,” Sheltay said defensively. “Your father didn’t want me to.”  
　　  
　　“Why do you keep doing this?” Kallus asked jumping out the swing.  
　　  
　　Zeb was beginning to feel like he was in a soap opera.  
　　  
　　“It’s not my fault it’s your father’s, he wants a grandchild before he dies,” Sheltay said lazily. “Besides you fell for it twice now.”  
　　  
　　“I thought this time would be different!”  
　　  
　　“Yes, this time I will get as much prenatal care as possible,” Sheltay said.  
　　  
　　Kallus groaned and put his head in his hands, Zeb pulled him into a half hug and patted him on the back, there wasn’t much that could be said about what happened.  
　　  
　　Coruscanti nobles were unethical that wasn’t new and Kallus was going to be hearing about this for a long time, but one thing was certain his friends wouldn’t remember that celebration as the time Zeb’s people caused a panic every single day.  
　　  
　　

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:  
> 　　Most people seem to think Kallus was raised in the underground’s of Coruscant, in this story he’s descended from a noble upper level family that he is estranged from, and has to deal with one of the annoyances of nobility, producing a heir chose Sheltay just to fulfill that purpose. Neither of them “like like” as in want to spend the rest of their lives together it’s more of an illegitimate on and off kind of thing. For some reason Kallus always struck me as someone who wouldn’t stay with a romantic partner for very long and most certainly wouldn’t want kids,(so let's feel bad for him for a second) it might be because he’s a (former) imperial agent but due to being descended from nobility he’s stuck with Sheltay in some way here.  
> 　　  
> Sheltay is mainly interested in making his father happy, obviously her role is different than her legends role, instead of giving birth to Winter and dying, she’s a little younger and paired up with Kallus and his family. Some things were left intentionally vague since the story is told by Zeb, but Sheltay is not Kallus’ stepmother, his half-sister or a servant she is however unethical at the moment( she doesn’t think she’s being unethical and doesn’t see the problem). I would like to revisit this dynamic sometime down the line, I enjoy obscure characters because I have more room to work with them.  
> 　　  
> 　I’m not really in to the Ahsoka/Zeb ship (maybe it’s because I’ve never read any stories featuring them, hint, hint,) but I thought I’d give it a little onesided go here.


End file.
